Chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua clears G20 air: ‘Amritsar will host meetings as scheduled’

AMRITSAR/CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, chief secretary Vijay Kumar Janjua and Punjab police inspector-general (headquarters) Sukhchain Singh Gill all separately denied reports on Sunday that the G-20 meetings were being shifted out of Amritsar.
In view of growing criticism of the AAP government in Punjab over the law and order situation by the opposition parties, questions were raised on Sunday about the state’s ability to host two upcoming G-20 meetings in Amritsar. Amritsar is scheduled to host G20 meetings on education and L20 meeting on labour from March 15 to 17 and March 19 to 20, respectively and the local administration is already at work to beautify the city to welcome the G20 delegates. The chief minister, while talking to the reporters said on Sunday, “Don’t believe so much on sources. We do not have any such official information that the G-20 summit has been cancelled (in Amritsar).”
Chief secretary Janjua said he has confirmed at the ‘highest level’ that the G-20 summit will be held as the already decided scheduled at Amritsar and added that some people were unnecessarily spreading rumours about the change of venue. Even IG Sukhchain Singh Gill said that the G-20 meetings are going to happen in Amritsar as per the earlier schedule and Punjab police are capable of providing the required security for the event. A statement by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and a tweet by Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Vikramjit Singh Sahney too said the same.
The AAP government is facing severe criticism from opposition parties over the January incident involving self-styled Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, during which his supporters laid siege to the Ajnala police station and clashed with police.
CM Mann, who met Union home minister Amit Shah earlier in the week, made it clear on Saturday that he was getting minute-by-minute updates and he was keeping a strict vigil over everything unfolding in the state. The ministry of home affairs (MHA) also dispatched about 2,000 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel to Punjab for strengthening the security grid before Hola Mohalla.
Congress MPs Gurjeet Singh Aujla (Amritsar) and Jasbir Singh Gill (Khadoor Sahib) and Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira had on Sunday raised questions on the possibility of Amritsar not hosting the G20 meetings.
A senior administration official, who chose to remain anonymous, revealed that after the February 23 incident at Ajnala, they were asked to ‘review’ the complete security situation and it was ‘advised’ to shift the venue. Amritsar deputy commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan denied having received any official intimation of the cancellation of the G20 events in the city. Sahney, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP, tweeted that March 15-17 G20 meeting was confirmed to be held in Amritsar. “Punjab is fully capable of hoisting an international event and one stray incident can’t be a reflection of the state. It will be a memorable event.”
Similarly, PIB issued a statement, which it also tweeted, saying that Amritsar would host Labour 20 (L20) meeting on March 19-20. “The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh is the lead national trade union centre for organising the L20 inception meeting under the India G20 presidency. Apart from the meeting, the participants of the L20 meet would be taken to various excursion sites to showcase the rich cultural heritage of Amritsar,” it added.